Royal Games
by Ghostly October
Summary: The Ghost Zone always has a crowned ruler, asleep or not. Since Pariah Dark has now been de-crowned, however, it has become time to choose the next one. Or, in this case, the next two. But how to decide who is to rule? Perhaps the competition created to decide the best... ends up deciding the worst.
1. Ch 1- It Was A Dark And Squary Night

**Hello! This is my first Danny Phantom fic, so I'm sorry if I don't quite have the feel of the characters yet. Hopefully I'll get better the more I work with these guys. I've been wanting to write a Danny Phantom fic for a while now, but I wasn't sure which idea to go with. Long story short, here we are with what is hopefully a rather original idea! Or at least somewhat original. I haven't seen a story quite like this in the Danny Phantom fandom yet, at the least.**

 **Anyway, so I don't own Danny Phantom. Otherwise, it probably would have been quite a bit different.**

 **Oh, and just so you know, you'll probably find a lot of headcanons in here, including personal ones, unpopular ones, and popular ones. I'll try to explain them as they come for your guys' benefit, but I thought I would warn you that things in here might not be strict to canon.**

 **Like most of the writers for Danny Phantom, this will be up to, but not including, 'Phantom Planet'. As such, Danny's secret is still that, a secret. Dani will probably show up at some point, since she is one of my favorites.**

 **Without any further ado, PLEASE ENJOY!**

 _ **Royal Games**_

It was a dark and squary night…

Danny had just sucked the Box Ghost into the Fenton Thermos and feeling rather proud of it. Not that the Box Ghost was even the slightest bit of a threat or even a hard ghost to beat.

It was the fact that Danny had beaten the annoying ghost while still human that made him quite proud of himself.

The youngest Fenton had just been walking home and was caught off-guard by the ghost. Since Danny happened wearing a Fenton Wrist Ray—something his parents had become insistent on—, Danny turned and fired at whatever spooked him without too much of a thought. After Danny realized who _exactly_ it was that he had reflexively shot at, he just kept firing with the wrist ray until he could snap out the thermos and successfully capture the annoying ghost.

Not bad for a walk home from school, in Danny's opinion. Too bad that Tucker and Sam weren't walking with him—they probably wouldn't believe that Danny caught a ghost without his powers. It was almost sad, really. Danny could probably be a decent ghost hunter as a human as well as when he was a ghost, but Danny really felt more in-element when transformed into a ghost. Still, his reflexes as a _human_ ghost hunter were improving, evidence being the ghost inside the glorified soup container that rested in Danny's bag.

It wasn't much later when Danny found himself with the rest of his family in the living room. He'd immediately snuck past his parents and went to the lab when he arrived home and the thermos was promptly emptied into the Ghost Zone. Danny had gone back upstairs only to find his sister, AKA Jazz, and both of his parents, AKA Jack and Maddie, in the living room and decided to join them. After all, it wasn't all that often that Danny had the chance to be with his entire family, mostly due to the frequent ghost attacks that occurred within his hometown of Amity Park. Partially due to Danny himself running off to fight the ghost and partially due to his parents running off to fight the ghost. Even Jazz participated from time to time.

The apple really _didn't_ fall far from the ghost-hunting tree.

Of course, the family time was completely ruined about five minutes into a board game. The TV flickered on and, after they were sure that none of them had the remote (nor knew where the remote even _was_ ), the station changed to the local news.

There, clear as day for all to see, was a sight Danny never thought he'd see.

An Observant stood behind a pedestal in what appeared to some sort of sports field, if the bleachers in the background were any indication. Behind this Observant stood a crowd of its comrades, all staring forward at the camera. "Hello, Amity Park," the Observant said. "Please remain calm and stay where you are, as we will not be here long. We apologize for this interruption, but we must make this announcement, for it involves the entirety of the Ghost Zone and, as an offset, affects this town."

Jazz was staring at Danny, trying to see if he knew what he was going on. Danny, however, was staring at the screen nearly as steadily as their parents were, none giving any sign of moving, giving Jazz no clues as to what was going on. No one wanted to go after them, lest they miss the message the ones of the TV had.

"You should remember an incident some time ago in which the former ghost king, Pariah Dark, escaped from his Forever Sleep and took over the entire town," the Observant said. "Through the efforts of some brave individuals, Pariah Dark was defeated and this town saved. This, however, brings the question of who shall be the new Ruler, as it has been much too long since we have last had someone on the throne. We, the Observants, acting as a… Parliament of sorts for the Ghost Zone, have deliberated over the many details of this problem, and have decided thus. To start, there will be two rulers. We thought it'd be wise to have two to avoid the absolute power of Pariah Dark from happening again if at all possible. Since we now have a somewhat continuous relationship with humans, we agreed that we should try to address this now as well. So, to promote a well-balanced relationship between Ghosts and Humans, we decided that one of the rulers shall be Ghost and the other ruler shall be Human."

"A human ruling the Ghost Zone?" Danny muttered under his breath. "That… probably isn't good news."

The Observant shuffled some papers around on its podium as it started its next sentence. "To decide who the two rulers shall be, we have elected to have a competition. Games of a sort. To qualify as a human competitor, there are three rules. First, you must have been in Amity Park when Pariah Dark took it over. Second, you must have, in some way, gone out of your way to directly fight a ghost and actually be involved in combat. Third, if you meet the first two requirements, there is a basic test of sorts that will be held at this field. I believe it is the… Casper High Football Field? This test will be tomorrow at four pm, please come if you qualify. Well, rather, you are required to come if you qualify. Should you pass the test, you are required to also compete to be a ruler of the Ghost Zone, though whether you win is a different matter entirely.

"Since there are most likely ghosts watching this as well that may not have been informed while in the Ghost Zone, we'll state the requirements for a ghost to compete, of which there are two. First, you must have been involved in sealing Pariah Dark in his tomb in some way, shape, or form. Second, you must have been in Amity Park at some point within the past few years, since your human counterpart will most likely be from there and you should be somewhat familiar with humans in order to work together better. All ghosts who qualify must compete."

Danny felt shocked, to say the least. A competition, games, whatever, so that the Ghost Zone may have rulers again? Worse yet, Danny knew that _both_ __halves of him would have to compete. Phantom qualified without a doubt, and, depending on the test that the Observants planned on giving, it'd be a matter of pride on whether or not Fenton failed the qualification round.

"We will see you soon," the Observant finished. The TV filled with static, then shut off, leaving the Fenton family in shock.

"Were those ghosts?" Maddie muttered quietly to herself, not quite sure what to make of the strange creatures that were on her TV.

"I bet you they were!" Jack yelled, excited. "And they're inviting us to compete in some games for some weird ghost thing!"

"Weren't you listening?" Jazz said. "It's for the ghost throne. They're offering up the title of Ghost Zone Ruler to a human!"

"A human, ruler of the Ghost Zone?" Maddie said "Why on Earth would any ghost agree to that?"

"I could think of a few reasons," Danny muttered quietly.

"They said something about improving the relationship between ghosts and humans," Jazz pointed out. "Maybe they thought that offering up part of the Ghost Zone ruler-ship would be a big step towards that?"

"I suppose…" Maddie trailed off.

"Say, what if one of us became a Ghost Zone Ruler?" Jack said. "We could answer so many questions!"

"Oh, but do we qualify?" Maddie asked.

The Fenton parents started discussing ghost politics when the front door rang. Danny went to get it, seeing as the rest of his family was a little bit busy being overly excited with their conversation. He opened the door only to see yet another Observant holding out four ecto-green envelopes. Danny wasn't even surprised at this point, instead greeting it with a polite, "Uh, hello?" as it held the envelopes out to the young boy.

"Hello," it said, being about as friendly as an Observant ever got. "I am required to give you these letters. They contain vital information about the Royal Games."

"Royal Games?" Danny asked, just going with it at this point.

"The competition to decide the Ghost Zone's next ruler."

"Ah."

Danny took the envelopes, nodded politely at the Observant, and closed the door as the ghost walked off the Fenton's front steps. He headed into the living room where the rest of his family was still discussing what had just been on the news. Someone had turned the TV back on where frantic reporters were trying to make heads or tails of what occurred.

"Uh, guys?" Danny called into the room. "These just came in... There's one for each of us."

The green letters felt creamy in his hands, obviously some sort of high-quality stationary paper, each one addressed to one of the family members, and it didn't escape Danny's notice that his was a little heavier than the rest of them. There was a white-wax seal with a RG imprinted on it, sealing the letters with a beautiful and professional finish.

Jack took three of the letters, letting Danny keep his, and handing his wife and daughter their respective letters. The family opened the letters and were greeted by more high-quality paper, this time a bright white color that almost matched the now-broken wax seals. The dark purple scrawl said the same thing in each of the letters.

" _Hello, Participant._

 _We, the Observants, have sent you this letter to ensure that you are aware that you qualify for the Human portion of the Royal Games, known as the_ _Human Competition_ _, which will be the first part of the Royal Games. You are hence required to show up for the qualification round at the Casper High Football Field tomorrow at 4 PM. We will see you there, Participant._

 _These rules for the qualification round will be said again before starting the round, but to prepare the participants, we list them out below. We will not reveal the exact nature of the round, but keep this in mind to prepare:_

 _We are not responsible for any injuries._

 _Ecto weapons are allowed, but no destroying, maiming, ripping apart, or transporting to other dimensions are allowed._

 _Basic ecto weapons will be provided, but we suggest bringing your own or borrowing._

 _Each individual participant will have their personal abilities taken into account for their round._

 _Each individual participant's round will be private. Other than the conclusion of the round being shared publically, only details that the participant themselves tell will be share. However, due to moral codes of us, the Observants, and particularly the moral codes of our affiliates, if a participant lies about what their round entailed, details will be shared publically to put said lies to rest. This is to keep rumors quiet in the spirit of the Royal Games and for the sake of a fair and enjoyable competition._

 _Ghosts will be present at the time of the round, however they shall not attack. Return the favor by not attacking them. Should a ghost get out of line, we, the Observants—or one of our affiliates—, shall take care of the problem._

 _No ghost attacks shall happen the day of the round, allowing all participants to be on time and rested enough to participate, nor will they occur for the course of the game. As such, do not attack the ghosts._

 _We will see you soon,_

 _The Observants_ "

Danny had the feeling that a good portion of the rules were directed towards him, in some way. Actually, he was fairly certain it was partially his fault that these 'Royal Games' were even occurring. He couldn't prove anything for sure, though. Maybe he could ask an Observant or Clockwork, if he had time…

"It sounds like the qualification round involves weaponry…" Jazz read over the rules again and again.

"Maybe it's a shooting contest of some sort?" Maddie suggested.

"Or a fight!" Jack exclaimed. "I hope it's a fight. I'd love to fight a ghost one on one."

"I doubt that," Jazz said. "Why would they let ghost hunters go against ghosts for a qualification round to _rule_ ghosts? Besides, even with the rules, it wouldn't stop everyone to trying to destroy their ghost."

"We'll just have to see," Maddie said. "But, wait, you two got the same letters we did. Which means you two had to have gotten out of your way to be directly involved in a ghost fight."

"When did you two fight a ghost?" Jack asked, his tone a mix of pride, concern, and suspicion.

Jazz already thought of her answer when she received her letter and answered. "Well, remember when we had that little ghost infestation while Danny and Mom went on that trip? I guess that qualified me."

Danny thought hard. When had Danny _Fenton_ fought a ghost? Well, before today with the Box Ghost, that is. Jazz was thinking too, trying to answer the question without outing her brother. "Danny?" Maddie questioned her child's silence.

"Oh!" Jazz lit up. "Didn't your class save all the adults from a couple of ghosts? On the pirate ship? I remember you telling me something like that."

Danny lit up too. "I almost forgot about that. None of the adults remember that…"

"Which explains why neither Maddie nor me know what you're talking about," Jack smiled proudly, "and now I'll accept it without any other explanation!"

Maddie smiled happily. "Well, then, looks like we'll all be going to those qualifying rounds tomorrow. Imagine, a Fenton as a Ghost Zone Ruler!"

The Fenton parents started talking theories while the Fenton children just looked at each other nervously.

"This isn't going to end well, is it?" Jazz sighed.

"No, probably not," Danny said. "It usually doesn't." Danny then decided to look into his envelope to find what that extra weight was. A small and thin blue envelope rest inside, this one addressed to Danny like the first one was, though Danny suspected that it wasn't for the _Fenton_ side of his identity.

"What's that?" Jazz peaked over his shoulder at the little envelope.

"Not sure, but I think I should open it away from prying eyes," Danny said, heading out of the room towards the stairs. Jazz started to follow, but was stopped by Danny before she had taken more than two steps. "Jazz, I say this as kindly as possible—you are one of the said prying eyes. Why don't you enjoy the debate our parents are having on ecto plants?"

Jazz took one peak over at their parents and sighed. "I think I'll just… do some homework. Will you at least let me know what the letter says later?"

Danny shrugged. "As long as it's not something I'm sworn to secrecy about, then sure."

The two siblings headed up the stairs to their respective rooms, Jazz heading straight to her psych homework and Danny pulled out the blue envelope. Just like the green envelope, it was sealed with a white RG, which was quickly torn through as Danny opened his letter. For a second, Danny was confused, wondering what the heck was going on with the purple ink to make it swirl like that before realizing the letter was written in Ghost. Luckily, Danny happened to be a polyglot now.

Ah, yes, the infamous 'Ghosts are Polyglot' incident. It had taken a week of gibberish and awkward silences to realize what had happened. Long story short, it boiled down to Danny knowing just about any language. It was a bit of a head-swimmer, but essentially all ghosts knew the language of ghosts (which was oh so originally named 'Ghost'), and that language somehow enabled its users to know all the human languages, including the dead ones. Ghost itself was very hard for a non-ghost to use, pretty much impossible to actually learn, and somehow got unlocked in a ghost's subconscious a bit after they become a ghost. The actual science behind it was unknown, but in a world where a teenage boy could create ice cubes out of thin air, a little boy ghost could kidnap an entire town's adults, and some weirdo with a staff could hypnotize spirits, Team Phantom decided to just leave it as is, chalking it up to 'ectoplasm is really weird and we should honestly stop questioning the goopy stuff and its properties'.

Danny took a quick survey of his room, deemed it safe, and called upon his ghostly side. A flash of light later, and Danny Phantom sat on his bed with a letter in hand. He crossed his legs and started floating around as he read the swirling letters with ease. While Danny could read Ghost (and any other language) in either form, he found that if he had already called upon his ghostly powers to transform, it made the foreign language that much easier to understand. While the other letter was very formal and from the Observants, this one was more informal and was noticeably written by someone else. It had to be Clockwork—no one else ever dealt with the Observants enough to get a letter addressed to Phantom into a letter that was written for Fenton by the strange, one-eyed ghosts.

" _Hello Danny Phantom,_

 _As I'm sure you're aware, the Royal Games will determine the new Ghost Zone Rulers. As you already guessed, much of this is due to your and Vlad's status as half-ghosts. After much debate, we have decided to give a Human throne and a Ghost throne. You and Vlad are both eligible to fill in both spots, and I can tell you that Vlad plans to do as such. Whether you get both thrones, no thrones, or only one throne is honestly a fair guess. However, you must stop Vlad from being the sole ruler. You don't need my help to know how much of a bad idea that would be._

 _Back to business. Danny Phantom is indeed eligible for the Ghost Competition in the Royal Games. There are rules in place to keep both your identity as well as Vlad Plasmius' a secret. As such, you should try to keep it as quiet as possible about the existence of Halfas as well as Plasmius' identity (no matter how much you may want to tattle) if you want to keep your identity secret and keep a fight from breaking_ _out should you happen to win both thrones. As you can imagine, most would not take well to one person holding both thrones, so please remember to keep that secret quiet._

 _Take it as a… friendly suggestion… when I say you should probably prepare some way to explain Halfas, or rather the humanity inside of Danny Phantom, in a non-revealing way as well as cover up any ecto activity that may come from Danny Fenton, just in case. Also, you will require some sort of backstory for Danny Phantom. The Observants and myself have granted all ghosts the privilege of picking and choosing how to interpret their backstories, mostly for your and Vlad's sake. You can't just make up anything, but a little bit of exaggeration or twist of words is allowed._

 _Danny Phantom's presence will also not be needed in the Human Competition, so try not to worry about that. All ghosts have an agreement that no ghost attacks will occur while the Royal Games are hosted in Amity Park, somewhat similar to the Christmas Truce. Mostly so they won't get eliminated from the games when they are participating and out of respect if they're not._

 _I wish you best of luck._

 _Clockwork"_

Danny's legs were still crossed by the time he finished the letter, but somehow he ended up upside-down near his ceiling. He set his elbows on his knees as he reread the letter. Clockwork's suggestions were not to be taken lightly, but usually he was vaguer with his warnings. Then again, Clockwork was never one-hundred-percent sure what would happen and was not against manipulating the odds in his favor, so Danny figured that's what it was all about.

A backstory for Phantom? A vague way to explain Halfas without _actually explaining Halfas?_ And Fenton having weird ecto readings would definitely cause red flags of some sort if there wasn't a believable explanation other than 'Hey I'm half ghost and I'm trying to be the sole ruler of your dimension by taking both thrones!'.

All of that… would take some thought. Luckily, today seemed to be a slow day and tomorrow promised to be ghost free, so Danny would have some time for it before the 'Royal Games' started.

Something in the back of his mind didn't feel right about this whole situation, though. Danny wasn't sure what it was, but he felt like he was missing some information. Or something.

"Ah, well," Danny muttered as he righted himself in air and floated over his bed. He switched back to Fenton and landed with a soft _thump_ onto his rumpled sheets. "How do I feel about ecto radiation as an excuse? Pretty sure everyone in town has at least a little bit of that..."

 _ **Royal Games**_

 **Well, that was the first chapter. Not so great, but it's a set up.**

 **Remember, this thing is gonna be FULL of headcanons and fanon stuff, but I'll try to remember canon as well. As such, feel free to suggest any headcanon things you really like. I might or might not put it in, but I may have a nod to it of some sort at least. Also, canon elements that you really like and/or wished were explored more are very much welcome here.**

 **Feel free to suggest whatever for this fic in general, actually. Including which ghosts and humans should be involved in these 'games'. Just keep in mind the rules I already set out in the chapter. I might be somewhat lenient on some things (such as making one of the teachers there), but I'd prefer that to stick to canon as much as possible (like ghosts that were not there at the Pariah Dark incident will more likely than NOT be participants, but might be in supportive roles instead). Still, if you suggest whoever, it might help your case if you list WHY. It can be as simple as 'Because I think he's cool' or as complex as 'I think she'll raise questions A and B if she was there'.**

 **These games are rather playful in a way, kinda like a grand carnival of sorts. Since carnivals are for the entertainment of the audiences, suggest what you think should happen in the games (and trust me, lots of things can happen). This will probably make more sense as I continue this series and explain how the games work, but the main thing is to remember it is A- a competition and B- entertainment for both the competitors AND the 'audience'.**

 **I have no idea when I'll update next, so be on the lookout if you like this story!**

 **SEE YOU SOON, FRIENDS!**


	2. Chapter 2- The Qualification Round

**Alright! Now it's time for the second chapter, also known as the Qualification Round. As you should well remember, the Qualification Round is for humans who were involved with the 'got kidnapped by a ghost king who must absolutely hate mornings' AND have gone out of their way to get into a ghost fight and, well, fight! So here we'll have a lot of Amity Park citizens who will either become Competitors or be disqualified. How will the rounds go? Well…**

 **I don't own Danny Phantom. If I did…. Yeah no. Probably a good thing.**

 **ENJOY!**

 _ **ROYAL GAMES**_

As the Observants had promised, no ghosts showed up at all the next day. Or even that night. Actually, the only ghost Danny fought the day of 'the announcement' had been the Box Ghost, and he didn't show back up at all.

Everyone in Amity Park was anxious as four o'clock rolled around. The bleachers of the Casper High football field were filled with press and people coming to observe this 'qualification round' that several of Amity Park's citizens had to participate in. Strangely, the field itself was open and clear of both people and of ghosts. Then again, no one really knew what was going to happen on the field itself, and appearances could be deceiving. A clear field could quickly become a battlefield. So maybe not so strange after all.

Participants of the Qualification Round stood off to the side in a large canopy tent at the entrance of the field. Surprisingly, no ghosts set this up, but rather the Fenton parents had. They had partially wanted to see all of the other potential competitors and had set up this tent to keep them all together. Danny saw familiar and not so familiar faces—what even was Lance Thunder doing here? How'd he become a participant?—and wondered which of Amity Park's citizens he might have to go against. There was no doubt in his mind he was going to make it through this round, whatever it was, and into the Royal Games. Actually, what Danny _really_ wondered was if there was any feasible way to get through these 'Royal Games' with his secret intact.

Somehow, he doubted there was.

Four o'clock chimed in. At first, nothing happened.

Then Danny shivered, letting out a visible breath, and instantly knew that they had company.

A portal ripped open in the center of the field. A somewhat large ghost covered in fur with large claws wearing some sort of jumpsuit-tracksuit thing stepped out of the swirling green and onto the field. Danny recognized the ghost as Wulf, a friendly ghost that only spoke Esperanto for whatever reason and had the unique power to open portals. Following Wulf was an entourage of Observants and some smaller, weaker ghosts such as ectopuses and, somehow not very surprisingly, the Box Ghost.

"Welcome!" an Observant shouted out as its companions became a flurry of ecto activity on the football field, setting things up and flying around like crazy. "Ah, it's nice to see everyone showed up. Cameras, even better. Just like we predicted. Now, we the Observants shall be done in just a moment, so if the contestants that are already gathered under that tent would please move to the other designated tent in the field, that would be… appreciated."

Sure enough, the Observants were done setting up a large building-like thing in the center of the field and several canopy tents and tables all around it. Wulf closed the portal he had made and headed in through one of the various doors in the building thing. Observants were everywhere and were occupying most of the tents they set up. A somewhat larger canopy tent was just before the building and had a large sign saying 'Potential Competitors' on the top. The said potential competitors waited a moment before they all moved towards the other tent, Maddie and Jack Fenton quickly disassembling their tent as they went. An Observant with an ecto-green bowtie stood between the tent and the coming participants. "Hello, I'll be your guide throughout the games, should you make it pass this round. You'll be able to tell by this tie. I believe you all have your envelopes?"

As a matter of fact, they all did. The Fentons had requested to see them before letting them into their tent as they did not want to deal with any news stations crawling around at the moment. This had mostly come to be when Lance Thunder—again, what was he doing here?—had tried to come in. The participants showed their envelopes one by one to the bow-tied Observant and, after being let into the canopy tent area, sat down in one of the various metal folding chairs. By pure coincidence, Danny was the last one in line to show his envelope.

"Oh," the Observant said as he saw who it was. "It's you."

Danny took a quick look around at all the spectators. "Ah, yeah, I don't know you…"

"Not personally, no. You wouldn't."

The Fenton boy pulled his envelope to the ghost. "You're gonna be the guide for the human contestants, right?"

"Yes, I am," the ghost said as he looked over the envelope to make sure it was real—though really, Danny was probably the one of the only ones who could have gotten in without an envelope, save for maybe Valerie, the rest of Team Phantom, and the rest Fenton family.

"Do you have a name? It'd make it easier for you to stand out to the humans as our guide."

"No I don't. Observants don't have name. We're a collective," the Observant said as he handed the envelope back.

"I'm gonna call you…. Tim. Tim the Guide."

"Please don't. Now go in."

"If you say so, Tim," Danny smiled as he went to sit with his two friends, Sam Manson and Tucker Foley, whom were already settled in the tent.

Sam Manson was a smart girl with rather 'creepy' interests. From her combat boots to her Goth clothes to her purple lipstick, she valued individuality. She was also an 'ultra-recyclo vegetarian', which essentially translates to her 'not eating anything with a face on it'. Danny wasn't sure what he thought of his feelings for her just yet, but he already decided that he felt _something_ for the girl.

Tucker Foley, on the other hand, was perhaps Sam's complete opposite. Sam was white as a sheet while Tucker had a nice chocolate skin tone. Sam was Goth, Tucker was decidedly not. He also absolutely loved meat and had no issues with completely blending in with the crowd, or trying to at least, which often butted heads with Sam's diet and her world view. Tucker and Danny knew each other for a long time and knew more about each other than they probably ever wanted to know.

Yet, despite Sam and Tucker's differences, both were friends with each other and were friends with Danny. Danny couldn't ask for better friends. Well, as long as they didn't try to kill him again. Which there was a distinct possibility of, actually. What could he say, they were a curious trio and Danny's parents were eccentric inventors.

The fact that they hunted ghosts together helped with that bond. Nothing helps a friendship like watching your friend turn into a ghost and get slammed into a building by another ghost that you will later use a fishing line and a soup thermos to capture and put into a separate dimension with the help of a portal in the basement of two nice but at least partially insane scientists.

"Okay, Participants!" the announcer Observant said as it floated above the building thing. "You're about to start the Qualifying Round! As such, I will review the rules laid out before in your envelopes for the benefit of reminding the Participants and to inform those who did _not_ get a letter." The Observant paused as several cameras and microphones were set up, then started speaking again after everyone seemed ready to listen. "First of all, we are not responsible for any injuries you may sustain. You may bring in ecto weapons, however there shall be no maiming, destroying, ripping apart, or transporting to different dimensions allowed. We do have basic ecto weapons over there in the Weaponry Tent, but only Participants may allowed in. Participants, the Weaponry Tent is the closed-off blue one left of yours. Participant's personal abilities shall be considered for their round, so no two rounds will be exactly the same, thus there is no advantage by sharing or withholding information about the rounds. We will announce only the result of the Participant's round, however Participants may share any details they wish. For the sake of fair games and the spirit of the Royal Games, no lying about the rounds are allowed. Should a Participant break this rule, their round will be shared publically. As you all can see now, there are ghosts present. None of those out here will attack any of those present and we request all of you do the same. If something is to occur, we, the Observants, shall take care of it."

"Basic rules, yeah yeah," Jack shouted. "What about starting this shindig already?"

The Observant heard Jack—it was rather hard not too—and cleared its throat. "We'll begin the rounds shortly. The order the Participants go in shall be decided by random lottery. Onto other announcements, we, the Observants, have decided to let the non-participants roam around the field. Feel free to visit the tents, save for the Weaponry Tent. Be respectful of the Participant Tent and those inside it, as well as the currently empty Competitors Tent. That tent will hold all those who pass the Qualification Round and is located on the opposite side of the main building from the Participant Tent. Those who do not pass are allowed to roam the field with the rest of the non-participants. We ask Participants to stay in their tent and, should you become a Competitor, to stay in the Competitor Tent. So if all non-Participants would now make their way to the field, that would be greatly appreciated. We promise that the ghosts will not harm you."

The crowd in the bleachers were somewhat hesitant to come down, but soon found themselves roaming around the various canopy tents and seeing various ghosts, most of them Observants. A lot of the tables under the tents were empty and most of the banners did not have so much as a letter on them. It was… eerie, to say the least. There seemed to be empty tents as well, which seemed even stranger. There were only a couple of tents that really had anything in them, and they looked more like official's tents than anything a normal spectator would be interested in.

"As you can all see, right now our tents are, sadly, mostly empty," the Observant said. "However, they will begin to fill in as the Royal Games continue. You may also rent a tent space by registering with the Registration Tent near the 'Opposing Side' bleachers. Feel free to support your favorite contestant, become a food vendor, set up carnival games, or sell items related to the games. News stations are encouraged to take a tent as a home base of sorts here in the field. Competitors can also run a tent if they are not in a Royal Game activity at the time. The tents have to be ghost-friendly, however, as they are also just like you—spectators and competitors for these games."

"Interesting," Tucker said. "So it's like a carnival?"

"I guess," Danny shrugged. "It looks like it's supposed to be festive, regardless of the lack of filled tents."

"Huh," Sam looked around. "I wonder what tents are even set up right now."

"Good question, Participant!" the Observant said, having somehow heard Sam's comment. "The only tents that are really set up right now are the Participant Tent, the Weaponry Tent, the Competitor's Tent, the Registration Tent, and the Question Tent. For those wondering, the Question Tent is where you can submit questions for any of the Competitors, whether they be a Human or, for later on, a Ghost. Of course, you can also leave notes for the Competitors, though we suggest keeping those to a minimum. The press can use this to request interviews and the spectators can give the Competitors encouragement. No threats will be sent through and all notes and questions _will_ be monitored."

"Well, I don't think we'll be getting much mail then," Tucker muttered.

"The Question Tent will also have a voting section. This feature will be explained more later on, but for now it will serve as to show which Competitors are fan favorites and which ones are… not quite so popular. That, along with other things, will be displayed on a yet-to-be-constructed board that will list all of the Competitors."

"We're gonna rank low," Danny said.

"So very, _very_ low," Sam agreed.

"Speaking of our Competitors, we should let the Participants start in their Qualification Rounds now," the Observant said as it _poofed_ up a jar filled with paper out of nowhere. It reached its hand down into the jar and pulled out one of the slips. "First Participant, Damon Gray, please follow your guide to the Weaponry Tent and then to the main building."

"When did Mr. Gray fight a ghost?" Sam asked Danny.

"How should I know? I kinda lose track of who's involved in fights at this point," Danny said. "Besides, he's security at Axion Labs. He probably chased off the Box Ghost or something."

"That's…. Probably true," Tucker nodded. "I think almost everyone in our class is here."

"We fought Ember and Youngblood to save our parents, remember?" Sam reminded him. "So all of us qualify."

"It's a pretty good cover for why we're here too," Tucker said in a softer voice, trying not to be heard by the other teens. Not that it would have mattered much, everyone was having their own conversations at this point.

Danny nodded. "Got that right. It explains why no one's questioning our presence, which is good." Danny went quiet for a moment before frowning. "I wonder what's going on in there. I'm trying to listen but it seems they're either doing a very quiet round or its sound proof. Like, ghost-quality sound proof."

"Not sure," Tucker admitted. "I did see him when he into the Weaponry Tent though. He got an ecto gun."

"Mr. Gray, father to Valerie, the ghost-hating sharpshooter, got an ecto gun," Danny deadpanned. "That can _not_ be good."

"She had to get those skills from somewhere," Sam said. "And Mr. Gray does work security. I think he was in the army at one point…"

"Probably," Tucker said. "At least you're not on the other end of it this time, dude."

A loud, crackling sound came over the announcement speakers, momentarily hushing the crowd. "Next Participant Mikey, please follow your guide. The first Participant, Damon Gray, has passed the Qualification Round. He is now our first Competitor!"

Danny paled a bit as the cheering started. "That can't be good. That means we'll probably compete against him."

"Maybe he'll get ruled out before we have to fight him?" Tucker suggested. "Or maybe there'll be a rule against adults fighting minors?"

"Ghost ages are different, Tuck," Danny shook his head. "Besides, even if that did happen, eventually at least one adult vs. kid fight would have to happen at the very end."

"How different even are ghost ages?" Sam asked.

"Well," Danny said. "Ghosts aren't exactly immortal, and so they go through some aging as time goes on. However, they do 'live' a ridiculously long time and I think that they can control if they look old or young. Ghosts aren't too concerned about aging and stuff, to be honest. If a ghost looks twelve, they're twelve, if they look forty, they're forty. Even if the twelve-year-old is like two centuries older. Generally, you don't judge a ghost by age or appearance. Like Box Ghost is 'older' than Youngblood, but Youngblood is definitely more formidable. Also I think Youngblood is technically older. But time just seems weird after a while… for a ghost that is." Danny shrugged. "It's hard to explain, since ghosts do sometimes show some age development, especially if they're a higher power level. But basically a ghost is as old as it feels to be, if that makes sense."

"Do you think they count human years?" Tucker asked. "I mean, you're like fourteen or fifteen."

"You don't even know my age?" Danny quirked an eyebrow in disbelief. "Seriously Tuck? I'm sixteen."

"Sorry! But it's only been about a year since…" Tucker quieted his voice significantly, "The 'accident'… so are you fourteen or one?"

"Um," Danny scratched his head. "You know, I never really asked Clockwork about that. Or Frostbite. They both told me a little about ghost aging, but… I think I'm just how old I am. That's it. Either way I'm ridiculously young in both human time and in ghost time. Actually, scratch that, most humans are ridiculously young in ghost time. And anyway, I'm sixteen and it's been _two_ years."

"You really don't look much different from then," Sam observed. "I mean, I guess we don't either, and you've finally gotten taller than me, so…"

"Thankfully, yes," Danny sighed. "I was so tired of being one of the shortest."

"Dude, you're still one of the shortest," Tucker pointed out.

"Not. Helping," Danny hissed. "But it's not like I've stopped aging or anything. Maybe I've just slowed down?"

"There's a chance of that," Sam said. "But that doesn't explain the rest of town."

"Um…" Danny thought for a moment. "Widespread ecto radiation maybe?"

The crackling of the speakers came on again. "Participant Sam Manson, please follow your guide. Previous Participant Mikey has passed the Qualification Round, he is now a Competitor!"

"Well if Mikey made it," Sam muttered as she stood up, "it can't be that hard."

"That's probably true," Tucker agreed.

Sam left with the guide, going towards the Weaponry Tent and disappearing.

The rhythm continued, Participants got called, some became Competitors, some didn't, and the Participants waited anxiously. After Sam, for example, there was Vlad (who somehow had his own private tent, explaining why literally no one had seen him until then) who made it, but after him was Lance Thunder who failed the Qualification Round.

Eventually there were few participants. Danny's friends had already become Competitors, and even Danny's parents had gone through (and passed). Danny and Jazz were one of the few left. Then, just as he was about to just take a nap, Danny was called in.

He followed the guide, Tim, into the Weaponry Tent. All of the Participants were required to go in and at least consider a weapon. Danny, of course, had more ecto weapons hidden on his person than most people thought he could carry, but still, he picked up a small ecto gun and followed Tim to the main building thing.

The building was mostly that, a building, but it was very obviously only for temporary residence on the football field. Doors were everywhere, but only one seemed to be an entrance. A good percent of the doors couldn't even be reached by humans anyway, most likely a product of ghosts, who were used to the insane doors in the Ghost Zone, trying to build a human building.

"Inside, Danny Fenton," the guide said.

"Thanks, Tim."

"Don't call me that."

Danny went in to find a numerous amount of doorways and hallways. A staircase here or there, slopes, so on. A labyrinth.

"This is the qualifying round?" Danny asked the air. "Am I supposed to find the exit? There's so many doors though…"

The young Fenton gulped. He guessed this is what was meant by 'sharing information will not help during the Qualification Round'. The Observants probably reset the labyrinth every time. They also factored in personal abilities, apparently. A quick check told Danny that the ruled probably only really applied to him and Vlad—his ghost powers didn't work in the labyrinth.

Luckily, Danny had some Fenton Ghost Line in his pocket—the line that went in the Fenton Ghost Fisher and a few other inventions—which he tied to the now-locked door handle. Ecto gun in one hand and Ghost Line in the other, Danny began walking down the hallways. "At least I'll know if I go in circles!" he said cheerily to himself as he turned to the left and then to the right. "The exit is probably on the other side of the building, so I'll try to go as straight as possible…" What could he say, talking to himself made him less stressed.

Then a ghost showed up. Because _of course a ghost showed up_. There were ghosts everywhere and it had pretty much negated Danny's ghost sense two hours ago.

And of course, the ghost that showed up was the Box Ghost.

"Beware! I am the guardian of this box of hallways!" the Box Ghost yelled. "I cannot allow you to pass!"

Danny blinked. "Is this the way to the exit then?" Danny asked.

"Of course it is! That is why I'm guarding it!" the ghost yelled.

Danny thought for a moment. "Then, oh great ghost, you should show me all the other hallways that leave this place so I know which hallways to not take."

The Box Ghost hummed in thought. "Very well!" he yelled. "Follow me down the hallways you should not be going down!"

Three minutes later, Danny found the bright neon exit sign.

"There!" Box Ghost said. "The exit which you are not allowed through!"

"Oh, really," Danny said. "Well, thank you for your help. Say, could you hold this fishing line for me, oh fearsome ghost?"

Box Ghost smiled at the 'fearsome ghost' comment. "Certainly!" he said as he floated down and took the line from Danny's hand. "Do not try to trick me into letting you leave, either! It won't work!"

"Sure it won't," the Fenton boy said as he walked past the Box Ghost and to the exit. He left an upset Box Ghost behind him, said ghost having finally figuring out that he had been tricked, and found himself in front of another Observant.

"You passed. Congratulations," the Observant said. "I'll let the announcer know. Go join the others at the Competitors Tent."

Danny smiled at the ghost before going to the clearly labeled tent, dropping the ecto gun from the Weaponry Tent at a just-as-clearly labeled table in front. The tent had a surprisingly low number of non-participants hanging around, though it probably had something to do with Maddie proudly sporting out her Fenton Bazooka and Jack twirling his Jack-O-Nine-Tails around. Danny wasn't sure what was scarier—his mom's weapons or his dad's horrible aim. Wait, actually, the scariest part to Danny was Vlad standing there next to his parents, obviously trying to compliment a not-interested Maddie and giving underhanded insults to Jack.

The young Fenton decided to ignore it for now (again, Fenton Bazooka and his dad's aim) and instead searched for his friends. "Hey, guys," Danny said to Tucker and Sam when he found them. "How goes it?"

"Well, your dad accidentally body slammed a reporter," Tucker said. "It was kind of great."

"Nice," Danny whistled. "Not many more Participants to go, huh?"

"Nope. And we're all Competitors now, which is… Fairly predictable," Sam said.

"Did you guys get a labyrinth too, by any chance?" Danny asked. "I wanted to make sure I wasn't the only one."

"Nope, I got one too, dude," Tucker assured.

"Same," Sam nodded. "The real question is how on earth Dash got through."

"I think I saw some broken walls in there," Danny said. "I'll give you a wild guess as to what probably happened."

"How'd you get out anyway, Danny?" Sam asked. "I got lost and started shooting blast marks to mark where I had been."

"Yeah, and I made a virtual map of the place until I found my way out," Tucker added.

"Well, I partially used the Fenton Fishing Line to leave a trail. Then I met the Box Ghost and I _might_ have ended up having him show me out," Danny admitted.

"Seriously?" Sam looked surprised. "You tricked the Box Ghost?"

"What, like it's hard," Tucker scoffed. "It's the Box Ghost."

"True," Sam agreed. "Still, I only ever saw ghosts if I was going the wrong way."

Danny shrugged. "I guess the 'you're going the right way if you meet enemies' thing doesn't apply?"

The speaker system crackled again. "Final Participant Valerie Gray, please follow your guide," an Observant announced. "Participant Jazz Fenton has passed the Qualification Round! She is our next Competitor!"

Jazz did in fact show up in the tent after the announcement was made. She looked around and, after spotting her brother, jogged over the trio and smiled. "Well that was fun!"

Danny gave her a funny look. "How so?"

"A labyrinth is just a puzzle, Danny. Puzzles are fun! Oh, by the way, any idea why the Box Ghost was in a bad mood?"

Sam and Tucker gave Danny a pointed look. "… The world may never know," Danny said with a sheepish smile. "But hey! The whole Fenton Family made it…"

Jazz gave an unamused, "Yay," at that.

Crackling. "Participant Valerie Gray has passed the Qualification Round! She is now our last Competitor!"

"Well _that_ was fast," Jazz said.

"We have no more Participants. Please give all of our Competitors a round of applause!" the announcer said. Valerie stepped into the tent just in time for the whole field to explode into cheers and applause.

"Wow," she said as she stepped up to Danny and co. "They must have been bored just standing around. Listen to those cheers."

"Yeah, there's not much going on yet… I wonder what happens now though," Danny said.

"Alright, please quiet down," an Observant said, once again hovered above the center labyrinth building. "That is all for today's activities. We, the Observants, will be taking over this field and the school buildings nearby for the duration of the games. We apologize for the disruption of class schedule, but we have found no other favorable alternatives. If there are any complaints, please go to the Question Tent tomorrow."

"Does that mean school's canceled?" Tucker asked.

"Please," Danny halfway begged the universe. "Please let it be canceled."

"Tomorrow's Saturday anyway," Jazz pointed out. "This could be over by Monday for all we know."

"Somehow I doubt that," Sam deadpanned.

The Observant started speaking again. "We request everyone to exit the field and go about your business. We shall be prepping this area for the games. The tents will be relocated to outside the field for the remainder of the games while this field is reconstructed for optimal use. For your safety, we ask you to not come near this location until at least 8 am tomorrow morning. Competitors, we ask you to stay a moment so we can inform you of what happens now. Non-competitors, please find your way to the exit now."

The general public retreated from the field, though many lingered much longer than needed. It took a good ten minutes of coaxing to get the last of the stragglers out. The Competitors stayed in their tent, talking idly and checking out the competition.

Currently, the Competitors included Danny, Jack, Maddie, Jazz, Valerie, Sam, and Tucker. The other Competitors were Damon, Paulina, Dash, Kwan, Star, Mr. Lancer, Mikey, Nathan, and, unfortunately, Vlad.

At last, the bow-tied guide ghost and the Observant that had been acting as announcer all evening showed up in the tent. "Ah yes, hello Competitors. Congratulations on making it this far in the Royal Games! From now on, though, the tests will be much harder than a maze. We will test your skills as not only a ruler, but as a fighter, for the crown of a ghost ruler is much coveted. For now, we have… Hm… Sixteen of you. Tomorrow will be your first Event Day."

"What's an event day?" Paulina asked.

"Event Days are days where the Competitors will have an elimination event where either two, one, or no people will be eliminated. As such, no one can be quite sure about whether anyone will be eliminated on Event Days. There are also Battle Days and Rest Days. Battle Days include 'battles' between Competitors. Rest Days are used so Competitors may rest. Competitors can also run a tent that day or schedule a talk time with the press, but ultimately you can just stay home and not show up. For Event Days or Battle Days, we request you show up here at this tent at nine o'clock in the morning."

"Tomorrow's an Event Day, right?" Damon asked. "What's the event?"

"Well," the announcer Observant said, "we don't want to give any details too early, but the event's name is 'Duck Pond'. We'll have daily programs available for each day, so if you forget an event, you can always grab one and check. This is also how non-Competitors and Competitors who are out of the competition will know what's going on."

"You're very thorough, I'll give you that," Mr. Lancer complimented.

"We see the future, after all," the bow-tied guide admitted. "This time, though, we're having some trouble, and we don't really know who will win these games. So instead, we have seen every conceivable problem and found a way to fix it so that the Royal Games go as smoothly as possible."

"I see," Maddie said. "And we should trust a bunch of ghosts because…? I've been going with this Qualification Round thing all day because I'm curious, but I'd rather have a better reason than that if I'm going to be in these 'Royal Games' of yours."

"We are giving up the Ghost Zone monarchy to a human," the announcer Observant said. "Many ghosts are not happy with this arrangement. However, they are… tolerating you, mostly. We ask you all to, at the least, tolerate the other ghosts for as long as the Royal Games are occurring. If you have any further concerns, however, you can submit them to the Question Tent first thing tomorrow."

"Not all ghosts are bad anyway, right?" Jazz said. "I'm sure it'll be fine."

With nothing else to say and nothing else to complain about, the Competitors were sent home, unsure of what would await them tomorrow….

 _ **ROYAL GAMES**_

 **I wasn't entirely sure what to put as Danny's age, so… I think he's like sixteen at the end of the series…. And I tried to mention ghost aging, but I really just sorta winged it. Like Danny's a young ghost, but powerful, so he's about as respected as ghost-fighting ghost can be in the Ghost Zone. Youngblood is an older ghost, but is also fairly powerful, and is considered somewhat threatening and is given his respect. Box Ghost is a younger ghost, but is not threatening, so he isn't respected much. Klemper is an older ghost, but is mostly more annoying than he is threatening, and isn't really considered a threat, so is left alone and not very well respected…. Does that make sense? I think respect has a lot to do with the Ghost Zone. Mostly because of the phrase of 'Giving your last respects' to a dead person. Maybe that influences power lever or something? I don't really know. I'm rambling.**

 **Anyway, any ideas as to what Duck Pond will have in store for our Competitors? I'm curious as to what you guys think is in store for our human Competitors. And there are sixteen of them right now. I'm not sure who is to be the first one eliminated yet, or if I even should eliminate one of them (I think probably will eliminate someone, to be honest), but I'll figure that out soon.**

 **Remember, you can submit stuff you think would be interesting for Event Days, and when we get to them, you can submit battles for Battle Days. You can even suggest stuff for Rest Days for our favorite characters to do. Also, the Question Tent is pretty much for you guys—submit questions, vote for your favorites, send in notes for the Competitors, etc. They may actually will have a bit of an effect on the story itself! You never know. Just submit whatever you think would be interesting to the 'Question Tent' (aka the review section) or you can talk directly to the game organizers using the Bow-Tied Observant Tim's inbox (aka my PM box—trust me, Tim will get it. Also he hates the name Tim, so naturally I must encourage you to call him Tim** _ **as much as humanly or ghostly possible**_ **). You can also suggest who you think will be the next eliminated and who will win. You can also submit headcanons and stuff you'd like to appear, and I'll see if I can include it.**

 **As you can tell, there will be minor OCs (such as Tim, Announcer Observant, also some referees are planned…). Fear not, there will not be any major OCs. Keep a watch out for fanon characters though, they might pop up (in probably slightly bigger roles than the OCs).**

 **Speaking of OCs, the Question Tent might remember you if you send anything in, so you might show up. I'm not asking for OCs or anything, but if you are submitting something for the Question Tent, please tell me if you'd rather not show up in the story or, if I do end up choosing your question, please leave a name I can use (keep in simple, like Emily or Jessica or Ethan or James). If you don't and I pick your suggestion/question/whatever, you'll either end up as anonymous, get a name based on your URL, or have a completely made-up name. Of course, this depends of whether or not I choose your suggestion.**

 **Also, at this time I'd like to thank** paigemeable **for all the help she's been—I've been talking to her and brainstorming about this since literally the beginning. She's a big part of this story's production and I wouldn't feel right without crediting her in this chapter for her help (especially after I forgot to last chapter, whoops!). Also, to the rest of the group that had to read through our messages, thank you too for 1-dealing with it and 2-any encouragement you might have sent (I can't look through the messages to see if either of you two said anything at the moment, so sorry about that!).**

 **So basically, remember to send in something (questions, notes, votes, Events, or Battles) to the Question Tent (via the review button) or just say hi in Tim's Inbox (again, literally just my PM box)! I promise, neither I nor Tim bite. Mostly because I'm on the other side of the computer screen and I'm pretty sure Tim just doesn't have a mouth. Also, you can just leave regular reviews in the review box if you so wish (it feeds my ego… and Tim's). Basically, not all reviews are for the Question Tent, but all Question Tent things are reviews. Likewise, not all PMs are for Tim's Inbox, but all of Tim's Inboxes are PMs (well, technically you can leave a review if you don't have an account, but I'd like to keep things as organized as possible).**

 **I'm not sure when I'll update next, but until next time!**

 **SEE YOU LATER, FRIENDS!**


	3. Chapter 3 - Duck Pond

**I'M BACK. With lots of help from Paige, as always. Seriously, this thing probably wouldn't exist without her help. In this chapter, you get to see just HOW messed up an event can be, especially against what the title is. And it will probably get worse from here.**

 **Actually, scratch that. If this goes according to plan, it WILL get worse from here.**

 **I don't own Danny Phantom. You should probably be thankful.**

 **ENJOY!**

 _ **ROYAL GAMES**_

'Duck Pond' was the most deceptive damn thing Danny had ever heard, _including_ the terms 'it's not embarrassing!' during his 'birds and bees' talk, 'this won't hurt you!' to _every invention his parents made since he was fourteen,_ every single time anyone said 'what's the worst that could happen?', _AND_ when Sam and Tucker assured him nothing would happen if he went into his parents' supposedly malfunctioning ghost portal.

But let's go back to the beginning of the day.

Danny woke up in a relatively good mood. If there was one thing that was good about these 'games' it was the fact that, for whatever reason, the ghosts had not shown up for a fight and he could finally get a full night of sleep. He figured there was a chance that ghosts would start to show up during the 'Human Competition' part of the game, but that probably wasn't something to be overly worried about. After all, no one really messed with Observants, though Danny suspected it had more to do with the ghosts being annoying than any actual respect to their 'government'. Honestly he didn't really care for the difference much as he walked to his high school. So long as he kept an eye out for things (pun fully intended, thank you Observants) in case they got out of hand somewhere, Danny figured it would be fine.

Probably.

Pretty much all of the Competitors had turned up at the grounds for the Royal Games at about the same time, a little before nine AM, only to find things completely different than how anyone had ever seen the place.

The entrance to the grounds officially started in front of the school building, a large fence blocking most of the outside any view of the inside. There was, of course, a gate with two rather bored teens manning it. There was no cost to go in, the teens just stood there handing out cheap green wrist bands and programs with the day's events on it as well as a list of the Competitors on the back, complete with standard pictures of each of them. Danny wasn't sure how or why the teens were working at a ghost-hosted event, but at least they weren't possessed or anything as far as he could tell, so he let it slide as he let the girl slip the stupid ecto-green bracelet over his wrist.

Stepping inside the gate was almost unreal. The Registration Rent—the tent to register to rent a tent, go figure—was left immediately after the entrance, and to the right of the entrance was a large board with all sixteen Competitors' faces and names on it. There was no ranks yet, nor were any points given to anyone, so for now it was in alphabetical order with a large zero on the far right side of board for each name. Beyond the hence-dubbed Rank Board, the Question Tent sat, ready for anyone to come by. Beyond that, there was an entire sea of tents.

It looked like the entirety of Amity Park had all rented tents. Food stalls, game booths, even small stores selling who-knows-what were everywhere. News stations had tents scattered throughout, and some of the families and friends of the Competitors had tents to support them. Danny noticed that quite a few of the people weren't even from Amity Park, and he was fairly certain he just saw a 'World News' tent giving a live broadcast. The place was so massive that the paths had names as if they were streets, each section grouping together and holding similar things, and Danny found himself glad that the little program he held had a map—it even labeled the tents, which didn't surprise Danny nearly as much as it should have considering the fact the Observants probably already knew what tents would be where before they ever printed up anything, although it was still eerie. More towards the far side of the area, though still relatively close to the center, was the football field, though it looked more like a Roman colosseum than anything else at this point, and Danny decided he'd explore more on that later.

It was nearly nine, so Danny rushed through the 'streets', deciding he would get a better look at those at some other point, and hurried over to where the Competitor's Tent was located all the way on the other side of the grounds, fairly out of the way of other tents as well as from prying eyes and listening ears. He made it on time, even had some time to chat with Sam and Tucker, before two Observants, one of which was Tim, the human's bow-tied guide, walked in just as it turned nine.

"Good morning, you're all here," the Observant that had been acting as an announcer said. "As we discussed yesterday, today's event is called Duck Pond…"

And that's how one of the most messed up game that Danny had ever played started.

First, the ghosts had everyone change into orange swimsuits, everyone collectively deciding not to mention how these ghosts even got exact measurements of them all, along with a baggy yellow shirt. Then they all had to wear helmets with sun visors as well as overly-cheerful cartoon duck faces printed on them. After that they were given what looked like giant foam Q-tips and herded to the former-football-field-turned-colosseum-of-probable-doom. There was an oval building structure surrounding the whole place, a mess of hallways confusing everyone until they entered what was apparently now their battlefield. In the center of this field was a gigantic shallow pool. All of the Competitors were given a strange looking blue surfboard type thing, and told to put them in the water and stand on them. It was nearly ten at this point, and the stands around the field were filling up with spectators, watching the Competitors as they balanced, some more easily than others, on the strange boards.

At ten fifteen, everyone was settled and the announcer Observant floated over the center of the field, its voice reaching all corners of the area. "Welcome to the Royal Games!" it greeted. "This is our first Event Day, and today's event is Duck Pond! Before we start Duck Pond, we'll go over the rules. Understand?"

The crowd gave a murmur of yes, waiting impatiently for the start of the event.

"Okay then," the Observant said. "You'll notice that all of the Competitors are in the pool. They are our Ducks. They have to stand on those boards, which we call Duck Boards, and try not to fall off. When we start, the pool water will start to circulate, sometimes changing speed and/or direction with no warning. If you look closely at our Duck Boards, you'll notice a light at the front of the board and a button at the back. This light indicates if the board is in water, in which it will be a blue light, red if it's not in water, and finally, the light turns green if the board flips over. The button on the back will, when pressed, flip the board. When this happens, our Competitors must either find a way to stay on their boards, jump onto someone else's board and then back onto theirs, or steal another board by knocking the other Competitor off. The boards will also randomly flip themselves, however they are less likely to if you are at the edge of the pool. You're not so safe there, though, because any Competitors that fall off their board get to stand at the edge of the pool and try to take out other Competitors using their padded staff."

"Well, this sounds horrible," Tucker muttered to Danny, to which both he and Sam agreed with a simple nod.

Dash, who was located on the other end of the pool, seemed confused. "Can you, I don't know, dumb it down a little?" he yelled up to the Observant.

The Observant looked a little irritated, but responded all the same. "Don't fall off your board, try to knock others off theirs, the button on the back of the boards will unbalance your opponents. Simple enough?"

Dash nodded. Just be the last man standing, right? That's how he understood it, at least.

"Another thing before we start. You'll have noticed the board just inside the entrance gate. If you look at it, you'll notice it has a 'points' column on it. There are three ways for Competitors to get points. First, get votes in the Question Tent. Second, have a tent or have a tent run for you by someone else, letting its popularity as well as any money raised by selling things translate to points—this is monitored to stay fair to other Competitors. Third, participation in Events, Battles, and Public Interviews held by the news stations. The more points a Competitor has, the higher on the board they go. Beware, though. Being higher up might not be nearly as great as one might think."

After a moment of silence, Mikey piped up with, "What points could we get here in this event?"

The Observant perked up and responded. "One point is rewarded for staying on your board when it flips, two points if you steal another's board by knocking them off, three for flipping someone else's board with an extra bonus point if they fall off or otherwise knocking that person off their board, and four for winning the event. As you can guess, points are harder to collect than it would appear."

"Ten bucks says Paulina is in the top five," Tucker said to Sam.

"Top three, and you're _on,_ " Sam shook hands with the boy.

"Without any further ado, let's begin," the Observant said, floating off to a large booth-like place to the side. Danny lurched a little as the water gained a current and started moving them in a slow, clockwise circle.

Almost immediately, Nathan was next to Valerie, attempting to flirt and win her favor by saying, "I promise not to flip _you_ , Valerie." Almost as immediately, Valerie calmly used her staff thing to push the button on the back of Nathan's board, making him fall off into the water with a shout. Next thing Nathan knew, he was outside the pool, staff thing in hand and Duck Board out of sight.

"Our first Competitor out of the Duck Pond is Nathan, flipped successfully by Valerie Gray and rewarding her with four points, putting her at the top of our rank!" an Observant said over a large PA system.

Things got a little crazy after that.

Jack got excited over the whole thing, waving his hands around and accidentally smacking Damon in the face and off his board. Vlad managed to hit Danny's board's button, trying to knock the younger halfa out of the 'pond'. Danny jumped off his board onto Vlad's, nearly knocking the man off before the millionaire (billionaire?) shoved Danny backwards and—luckily—back onto his original board. Jack chose then to get up to Vlad and try to say hello, accidentally pressing Vlad's button and flipping the unprepared man into the water. Jack was only able to get halfway through apologizing before Damon, who now stood outside the pond, managed to hit Jack's board and his button with his staff, causing the large man to tip over, causing a wave effect that unbalanced Mikey into the pond with him.

"This is rough!" Tucker complained to Sam. "Everyone's turned against each other!"

"Yep," Sam smirked before hitting the button at the back of Tucker's board, successfully flipping him over to join the others on the edge of the pool.

The pool then stilled for just a second before it started to go counterclockwise twice as fast as it had been going before. In Danny's flailing, he accidentally hit Star's board, flipping it. She managed to hop onto Paulina's and back to hers, but not before she declared vengeance on the boy. Paulina's board randomly flipped on its own after that, which she combated by knocking Star off her board and stealing it.

Sam made her way, slowly, over to Danny by pushing her staff against the floor of the pool, intent on flipping his board, but was stopped by Jazz suddenly hitting the board's button and flipping the Goth into the pool. Danny, on his part, decided to put the terrified-looking English teacher out of his misery and flipped his board, knocking Mr. Lancer into the water and out of the game. Valerie managed to sneak up to Paulina's board and flip it, sending the popular girl to the sidelines with a slightly-betrayed Star shortly after.

Dash decided the girls needed help, so he oh so kindly shoved Kwan into the water. Kwan, in turn, hit the back of Dash's board as hard as he could, managing to physically flip the board and take the blond out.

Duck ponds were supposed to be relaxing. This game was the exact opposite of that. And thus, the most deceptive naming ever, according to Danny.

Dash had just popped up at the pool's edge, which left the last four players. Valerie, Jazz, Maddie, and finally Danny.

Danny was not liking his odds.

Jazz's board flipped at the same time as Maddie's, but both managed to stay out of the water. Jazz's board flipped again when she strayed too close to the edge, her board's button being hit by Paulina. Danny watched as Valerie decided to stay close to the edge, fighting off the others with her staff thing as they tried to hit her board and surviving two random board flips before Maddie managed to knock the girl into the pool. Danny just tended to stay more towards the center and just risk possibly flipping versus dealing with any of his classmates.

Maddie scanned the pool, looking for others until her eyes fell upon her son. Her face broke out in a grin. "Danny, sweetie!" she called just as the pool changed direction, clockwise now, and moved almost at a standstill. She maneuvered her way to Danny, despite Danny's attempts to get away, considering the fact that they were the last two left. Just before she got to him, his board flipped, but he once again managed to avoid the water and jumped up, barely managing to stay on his board when he landed. Maddie's board did the same not even two seconds after, but she managed the jump and stay on her board much easier than her son did.

"Look at you, getting so far!" Maddie said. "I'm so proud!" She looked about ready to hug him.

"Thanks?" Danny said. "I have no idea how it happened."

Maddie's board flipped again, and this time she jumped from her board onto Danny's. Danny quickly jumped onto what was his mother's board and away from said mother, hoping to avoid an overbearing hug. There was a time and place for everything and Danny decided that proud motherly hugs were not exactly what he needed right now.

Danny had just about regained his balance when his mother hit the board's button, causing him to flip into the water and then to the outside of the pool in less than a second. The commentary that he had been ignoring suddenly rang in his ears as the Observant declared Madeline Fenton the winner of Duck Pond.

"Wha… wait," Danny muttered as he sat confused on the ground. "My own mother just… flipped me into the water? Out of the game?"

Sam walked up to him and clasped a hand onto his shoulder. "That she did, Danny. That she did."

"Don't worry dude," Tucker assured. "You still got pretty far."

"My own mother…." Danny said. "I feel betrayed."

"Go Maddie!" Jack yelled as the rest of the crowd was erupting into cheers for the first winner of the competition.

The rest was a bit of a blur for Danny as he suddenly found himself with the other Competitors standing in line on a stage just outside the arena area. Reporters crowded around, taking pictures of the Competitors and making commentary to the video cameras. Danny vaguely remembered to smile and wave a little, but it was fairly obvious that he was a little bit lost and a bit confused as to what the heck was going on.

Just as quickly as they had got on the stage, they had gone off it and were now in the Competitors Tent being told to change back to their normal clothes and give their event things back to Tim—who was still protesting his name—save for the stupid helmets. Apparently, they got to keep those as a souvenir. Danny didn't really care. He was still stuck on 'my mom betrayed me' and 'wait what's happening, where are we' to really comment on having such a stupid helmet to take home.

A few minutes passed and Danny collected his thoughts enough to talk to his friends without mentioning his 'utter betrayal' every chance he could, though he was still sending scandalized looks over to his mother on the other side of the tent (which she returned with sheepish smiles).

"Alright, good job everyone, you did spectacularly for your first day," the announcer Observant said, appearing at the front of the tent with Tim. "Although, not everyone did as great a job as the rest. Some of you now have a great start on the points while others… not so much… We'll get right to it. As you all can tell by looking around, no one got eliminated in Duck Pond. As much as we would love to not have to eliminate anyone on the first day… well, we must. Not everyone managed to get even a single point. In fact, four of you ended up with no points whatsoever, leaving it a tie to who will be eliminated."

"Oh no," Sam muttered. "This can't be good."

"Very not good," Tucker agreed.

"To remedy this, we have decided to have a secondary mini event in the afternoon," the announcer Observant continued, ignoring the groans that followed.

"But I'm tired, I don't want to do another event today," Star complained.

"Luckily for you, you barely managed to avoid the second event by having one point, so you're excused from the event," the one-eyed ghost said. "The four without points will have to try to not get eliminated in the mini event. They are going to go against the top four with the most points."

"Wait, who has the most points?" Dash asked.

"And who are the ones about to get eliminated?" Kwan seconded.

"Well," the announcer Observant said. "The four without points are Mr. William Lancer, Mikey Baker, Nathan Lester, and Tucker Foley."

"Aw, man," Tucker complained.

"The four that have the most points are as follows. Madeline Fenton with fifteen points, Jack Fenton with eleven points, Valerie Gray with ten points, and finally Daniel Fenton with nine points."

"What?!" Danny yelled along with about half the tent.

No one was really expecting that last one, despite Danny almost winning the game.

Danny looked around. He would have to probably team up with his parents and a scary-good ghost hunting ex-girlfriend to try to eliminate his teacher, two kids he barely knew, and his best friend. He was also amongst the top four with nine points which was earning him wicked glares from the A-lister crowd.

This… was not looking up for him.

 _ **ROYAL GAMES**_

 **Well, that's that! It's a little shorter, sorry about that, but not by all that much.**

 **I tried to think of the most demented game of Duck Pond ever—with humans as the 'ducks'. Hopefully I succeeded?**

 **Anyway, yes, there's a points system. And I did add up the points and that's really what I got. I didn't even manipulate them. That's honestly how it ended. To be clear, this order is as follows (any ties are in alphabetical order): Maddie (15), Jack (11), Valerie (10), Danny (9), Jazz (5), Paulina (5), Damon Gray (4), Dash (4), Kwan (4), Sam (4), Vlad (3), Star (1), Mr. Lancer (0), Mikey (0), Nathan (0), and finally Tucker (0). Any suggestions for points and earning them are appreciated as I'm still developing this thing and all its parts.**

 **I'm using fake last/first names to fill in the blanks on some of the characters. So far Mr. Lancer has the first name of William (often used), Nathan's last name is Lester because he is, at one point, mistakenly called Lester instead of Nathan (Claw of the Wild, I think), and Mikey's last name is Baker for his voice actor, Dee Bradley Baker (who also does Lance Thunder and maybe someone else?). Also Paulina Sanchez because I think everyone's using it at this point.**

 **Remember, you can suggest things using the Question Tent (the review box) (please leave a simple name for yourself if you do) or talk directly to the game organizers using Bow-Tied Observant Tim's Inbox (aka by PMing me). Anything else about it can be answered in the below author's note in Chapter 2- The Qualification Round (I'd suggest reading that before submitting anything, just to be sure). Seriously guys, I'm writing as I go, and while I have plans and certain plot points, there is lots (lots and lots and LOTS) of flexibility for you guys to work with and suggest.**

 **Oh, and I'll try to add some QT questions next chapter. I just couldn't really find a place that seemed natural in this chapter. Rest assured, all your Lancer questions will be answered (no, seriously, everyone's asking about Lancer, it seems).**

 **And yes, there will be a second event. It's smaller, and I have yet to decide how it will go or what, exactly, it will be (I do have a vague idea, but it's fairly vague), so suggest what you think should happen and who should be eliminated. It could even be Tucker, depending on the event and how I end up writing it out, so your suggestions would help immensely.**

 **With all that in mind…**

 **SEE YOU LATER, FRIENDS!**


	4. Chapter 4 - Pull Your Weight

" **A queen is never late. Everyone else is simply early." –Princes Diaries (I think)**

 **AKA, no you are not getting an explanation as to why this took so long.**

 **As always, thanks so much to Paige for helping me out with this. I didn't quite credit you to one of the questions, but you should know exactly which one is one of yours.**

 **And now, for the afternoon of the first day (at least, the start of it). Are you ready? Because the Competitors are not! No, seriously, they're not gonna be happy with this one if I can help it.**

 **Also, seriously thank you to everyone who has reviewed! You guys have been so SO helpful, thinking ahead with plots and what will happen, and that's exactly what I wanted! So continue doing that! I love hearing about those things AND it keeps me on my toes and thinking about what I should do next and what should happen and new ideas and YES! And you're all so optimistic, really, it's quite refreshing from what I usually get (different account, different fandom, lots of potential for gore and such, so on and so forth). It's almost like they don't trust me. It's not like I've killed off on of their favorite characters in one of my fics—wait, I did do that. Maybe they're right to be distrustful…**

 **Anyway, I don't own Danny Phantom or else this probably would have happened on the show. And while that might have been cool, it will be significantly less cool depending on how I decide to end this thing.**

 **So, without any further ado…**

 **ENJOY!**

 _ **ROYAL GAMES**_

The eight participants for the second event of the day were all in the arena. They had all had lunch and, man, no one except the audience was looking forward to this.

"I wouldn't even _be_ here if Sam hadn't flipped me two seconds in," Tucker grumbled.

"It's _Sam_ ," Danny told him. "You might have to be thankful she even _gave_ you the first two seconds."

"True," Tucker said.

"Attention, everyone," the announcer ghost said as everyone in the stands settled in. "Thank you for coming to our second, last minute event. Who could perceive this happening?" Danny wrinkled his nose, but continued listening. "We have four Competitors on the verge of elimination. We also have our top four in points. Before we start the event, how about we ask these eight to answer some questions? We'll have the chance to ask the other Competitors at another time, so don't fret!"

"People are really submitting questions for us?" Tucker asked.

Danny shrugged. "Guess so?"

"Let's start with a general question for everyone," the announcer ghost floated down to the field and went to the other end of the line of Competitors. In order, it was Mr. Lancer, Jack Fenton, Maddie Fenton, Nathan, Mikey, Valerie, Tucker, and then Danny at the end. "A question that seems to be on everyone's minds right now is: What will you do if you become a Ruler of the Ghost Zone? Let's start with William Lancer." The observant more or less shoved a microphone—where did it get it, was it there from the start? Danny couldn't help but wonder—under the man's nose. "Mr. Lancer?"

"Hm," Lancer said, "I think I'd tried to educate the Ghost Zone, see if we can't come to some sort of understanding. I'd try to rule fairly and in harmony with the other ruler."

"Good answer," the announcer observant—oh we're just gonna call them Ann—said. "While we have you here, a few people, including Kayden from your first period English class and a Ms. Nina Clever, asked the following question. How where you able to qualify as a potential Competitor? When did you fight a ghost?"

Lancer looked a little embarrassed. "Actually, it was completely by accident. I had been up grading papers until late. It was around three am and I heard a noise outside. I had thought it was a cat that had been terrorizing my home for the past week, although I could have sworn I'd finally found it a home on the other side of town… Anyway, I thought it was a cat and I was a tad bit fed up. I actually have an ecto-infused flying disk curtesy of the Fentons from last Christmas, so I threw that out the door on the porch where I thought the cat was, and…."

"…And?" Ann asked.

"It wasn't a cat."

Silence.

"It was a ghost. I scared it off, didn't bother me again, and I hadn't thought a thing of it until I got my Participant Letter. That's how I qualified, I think."

There was a pregnant pause. "Well," Ann broke it. "Onto the next Competitor. Or, as they are a couple, Competitor _s_. Jack and Madeleine Fenton, if either of you won, what would you do?"

"Well," Maddie kept her husband from speaking first, "either of us would probably demand all the ghosts to go the Ghost Zone and _stay_ there."

"But not before we got the chance to dissect one!" Jack shouted out.

"Moving on!" Ann said in a hurry, coming right between where Nathan and Mikey stood. "Nathan Lester, what would you do as Ruler of the Ghost Zone?"

"Honestly?" Nathan said hesitantly, "I'm a little surprised I'm here at all…"

"Same," Mikey agreed. "We may have been a ghost battle, but it wasn't like we really _wanted_ to fight ghosts."

"We were just trying to get our parents back from that ghost ship…" Nathan trailed off.

"… Alright then," Ann said before floating down the line. "What about you Miss Valerie Gray?"

Valerie knew that saying she would most likely personally exterminate every ecto being she could get her hands on _might_ not be a very good idea in a competition for ruler of said ecto beings. So she slapped on a cheery smile as she replied. "I'd tried to unify our causes, see if we couldn't maybe get along, and if we can't, I'd see to the best solution of separating our worlds."

Ann didn't really believe much of that, seeing that Ann was an Observant and knew of Valerie's Red Huntress identity, but nodded along like they _actually_ believed this human wanted the best. Tucker and Danny kept their game faces on as the Observant went next to Tucker. "And what of you, Mr. Foley? Any major plans?"

"My plans are simple," Tucker said. "In my experience in this town, there are many ghost babes. I'd order them to become a part of my court and then we'd see about keeping the peace between us all."

No one was really surprised by Tucker's first comment, though some seemed wary of his second.

"Well, then," Ann said as they floated in front of Danny. "Last but _certainly_ not least, we have Daniel Fenton. What would you try to do?"

"Me? Oh, um, well…." Danny gulped. He _hated_ public speaking. "I'd like to see peace between humans and ghosts… I don't think they have to be completely separate… although it'd be really nice if they'd stop breaking things and attacking the city… But not all the ghosts are like that, so it's, like, not really fair that the actions of a few effect the treatment of the all… so… Um. Yeah." Danny coughed lightly into his hand, going temporarily off to 'super embarrassed lala land'.

Ann nodded a small amount at the boy before shooting back up to the middle of arena, high up in the sky. "Well, there you have it! Send in questions to the Competitors at the Question Tent! Now, let's get to the actual event, shall we?"

Danny tuned back in to hear the cheering of the crowd, all of them excited about this next event. Ann whistled, thankfully away from microphone they still held, and a flurry of ghosts showed up in the middle of the field, construction something, just like what had happened with the qualification round. The flurry of green ended almost as soon as it started, and as the ghosts darted back to where they had been before, four tall rectangle columns revealed themselves on the field, a large amount of padding surrounding the ground around the bottom. A ladder could be seen on the sides of the column, waiting to be used.

"This event is simple," Ann said. "It's called 'Pull your weight'. It involves a little teamwork and a little bit of luck. Who do you think could lift you up and help pull your weight, Eliminatees? Choose your partners carefully."

Ann waved their hand, nonverbally telling them to go on and pair up. Valerie instantly was grabbed by Nathan, the boy claiming her as his partner. Valerie pushed him off and grabbed Mikey instead, just _daring_ either of them too protest.

They didn't.

Nathan then ended up paired with Jack, Maddie and Lancer decided to go on and team up, and Danny and Tucker were partners-for-life far before any sort of Royal Game entered their lives.

"Paired up?" Ann asked, and the Competitors affirmed that they were. "Great. I'll explain the event then." Ann turned their attention to the whole stadium. "As everyone can see, there are four columns and four sets of partners. At the sound, one of the partners, person A, is to climb that ladder on the side and go straight to the top. Up there, they will find a rope attached to a counterweight, a climbing harness attached to the rope, and a helmet. They are to throw down the equipment and press the giant red button that is up there. Once they do, person B is to run over and put on the equipment. Once that is done, person A must pull person B to the top of the column using the rope with little to no help from person B. Once person B is up there, the partners are to press the red button again and stay where they are until the end of the event," Ann explained. "There will be punishments if any rules are broken, such as time penalties. Of course, there are points involved here as well. The first team gets three points each, the second team gets two points each, the third team get one point each, and the final team gets no points. Eliminatees, this means that whichever one of you is unlucky enough to be on the final team will be eliminated from the Games. Understand?"

The four with zero points nodded. Danny gulped. He _really_ didn't want to be doing this.

"There's also a time limit. Anyone that hasn't made it to the top of the column in, say, an hour, gets zero points and, for the ones with no points as is, an elimination."

Ann snapped their fingers again, and a flurry of ghosts came and went, leaving four giant countdown clocks on the four sides of the field.

"Now, the game event is called 'Pull your weight', can you guess why?"

"Person A has to pull the weight of their partner, right?" Maddie said. "It has to have something to do with that."

"It sounds like person A is the person in each team who already has points," Lancer said. "That's how it seemed to be worded when we were told to pair up."

"Close, but not quite," Ann said. "Four of you don't have points. If you can't pull your weight in the competition, you might as well not be in it. No, the people who are 'pulling weight' are the Eliminatees."

Danny looked at the four without points. There was Lancer, his overweight teacher, Nathan, the unfit nerd, Mikey, who was somehow even smaller than _Danny_ was, and then Tucker, who got involved in more ghost attacks than either of them are frankly comfortable with.

If all four of them even got _onto_ the columns in an hour, he'd consider it a victory.

Annoying as Danny knew it would be, though, it still would suck less than Duck Pond did.

 _ **ROYAL GAMES**_

 **If it seems badly edited in any parts, it's because I'm doing this on like two hours or so of sleep.**

 **Well, all of your burning Mr. Lancer questions have been answered! In case it wasn't obvious, I totally made up the cat story. I couldn't think of a single time when Mr. Lancer actively fought a ghost. I'm sure there** _ **was**_ **a time, I think, but I wasn't going to watch the entirety of Danny Phantom to find out. Mostly because I'd get distracted and forget to look out for it.**

 **Anyway, so the Observants are totally nonbinary in this, but if I screw up and use the wrong pronouns for them, please tell me so I can fix it. You all know why Ann is** **Ann** **ouncer Observant, but can you guess where Tim's name came from? Other than Danny's head, that is.**

 **I'd love to hear what you all have to ask the Competitors, so if you have questions use the Question Tent (review box) or use The Bow Tied Observant Tim's Inbox (pms or reviews marked as such) to talk directly to the Royal Games organizers. For more full instructions, check out the bottom AN in chapter 2.**

 **Since you guys ask me questions, I'll give one to you! What's your favorite game? Carnival, party, made up, online, console, whatever type of game is your favorite! Even playground games and nursery rhyme games (almost all of us have play Ring Around The Rosie or something like that at least once, I'm sure) count!**

 **MORE ON NAMES: Kwan's last name is Sie in this (Kwan Sie), originating from one of his voice actors, James Sie (I'd give you more info on the name Sie if I could, but all I know is that James Sie himself seems to come from a Chinese/Italian household and that** _ **Sí e**_ **means** _ **yes and**_ **in Italian). Star is Star Morgen-Tagson (which, yes, is long, but sorta fitting?). Let's start with** _ **Morgen**_ **, which means** _ **Morning**_ **in German. I sorta went in a huge circle trying to name her, but basically she's named for Venus which is known as both the morning and evening star… Get it? BUT ALSO, Venus is a** _ **planet**_ **that revolves around the sun like a** _ **satellite…**_ **It goes back EVEN MORE though because 'Morgen' is a Welsh last name (albeit an uncommon one?) with Mor being Sea and Cant being Circle. Usually this is arguably referring to rainbows, AKA traditionally cheery things** _ **just like how Star is usually very cheery**_ **. Mor as Sea sorta fits since Star is not as shallow as Paulina (still kinda shallow, but anyway, moving on). Cant as Circle fits, since she's with the A listers, AKA the popular circle... I like to think I'm clever. (If only I researched this much in high school…) I almost made her have a single name, one candidate being** _ **Beliebt**_ **, which means** _ **Popular**_ **in German, but I decided against that one and several others. I would have used one of her voice actress's names, but I didn't really like any of those names as Star's last name (the VAs in question are Grey DeLisle and Tara Strong), so I made up my own. The second part is** _ **Tagson**_ **,** _ **Tag**_ **being** _ **Day**_ **and** _ **Sonne**_ **being** _ **Sun**_ **in German. Neither Morgen nor Tagson seemed to work quite well on their own, so I hyphenated and actually ended up liking it. Essentially, Star's name is** _ **Star Morning Day Sun**_ **and I think that is glorious.**

 **Up next, the round that goes probably exactly how everything thinks it will.**

 **UNTIL NEXT TIME, FRIENDS!**


	5. Ch 5-In Which Tucker Passes Out (almost)

… **I'm just gonna say 'I got a job as a freaking housekeeper at a hotel' and leave it at that as to why this is late.**

 **Also, community theatre.**

 **I don't own Danny Phantom, or I'd probably insert more parapsychology nonsense into the series (which may or may not become present later).**

 **ENJOY!**

 _ **ROYAL GAMES**_

The four pairs trudged forward towards the pillars, a bright orange line that nearly matched Jack's jumpsuit and the swimwear from before in front of them. Danny and Tucker in particular weren't excited. Tucker was a _computer geek_ , he didn't do rope climbing. Well, he could, but speed was another factor in this game, and unlike his fingers on a keyboard, his legs didn't do 'fast'. Danny knew this and really, _really_ hoped that Tucker wouldn't get eliminated because if Danny had any hope of actually _beating Vlad at a strategy like this_ he was going to need all the help he could get.

Nathan, personally, felt like humming a funeral march. Not only was he paired with Jack Fenton, he was expected to _climb a pillar_ and then _pull Jack Freaking Fenton_ up said pillar. Yeah, he might as well scratch his name off the board now. Sure, he could lift a tuba up and march around no problem, but Jack weighed much, much more than a tuba.

Mikey was… not hopeful on being able to get Valerie up, being as he had literal noodle arms. No, seriously. Noodles.

Mr. Lancer had very feeble hopes on getting Mrs. Fenton up, but then again, who knows. Maybe he'll surprise everyone and not get eliminated by sheer dumb luck.

Ann looked over the eight as they reluctantly lined up with a pillar and got ready, the elimatees more or less ready to run and the top four hoping for the best from their partners, although some-Jack-were more optimistic than others. "Ready Contestants?" A low but otherwise agreeing noise came up to Ann's height. "Then, ready, set… GO!"

There was a loud noise, the clock started ticking, the audience cheered, and all four thought they were going to _die_ before the end of the hour. See, the distance was fairly short to the pillars, and even the most un-athletic could probably make it just fine. They even got a ladder for the pillar!

… They really should have been more suspicious.

The rope ladder didn't look the safest as is, attached only to the top of the pillar and otherwise free to go as it pleased. That in itself sucked a little bit, but the next thing was what really threw them in a loop.

The damn thing was greased and slick, without much grip to it. Added to the sweaty hands of at least two of the Competitors, and while no fall would be fatal, it would really freaking _hurt_.

Why did they agree to this again? Right, ghosts. You don't argue with them. You just don't. If one tells you to climb a greased ladder, _you climb the damn greased ladder_.

And so they did. With difficulty.

Tucker was having the best luck. Hunting ghosts and having Sam 'the coach from Hell' Manson help you shape up in gym helped a lot, not that he'd ever admit it. He'd taken to a strategy not copied by the others—gripping the ropes of the ladder rather than the rungs, only ever having the arch of his shoes on those if he could help it. Next was Lancer, still a distance from Tucker's height, whose calloused hands from teaching helped a little in grip. Nathan was not far behind Lancer, marching band having also toughed his fingers, albeit not by much. Mikey was last, having almost hilariously smooth hands and struggling to grip the stupid ladder. He'd really much rather be holding a camera and filming the whole thing, not being part of the action…

Unsurprisingly, Tucker was first to the top. He checked his end of the climbing rig, tossed the needed equipment down, and slammed down on the red button. Danny rushed over as fast as he could, ignoring the loud cheers of the crowd, and quickly went through everything he knew about climbing…

Not much, save for the quickly-put-on helmet. Luckily, it seemed more or less self-explanatory. Legs here and here, around the waist here, loop thingy in the front, attach the ropes with the metal thingies no one cared to remember the names of, and done. Hopefully he did nothing wrong. Danny looked up to Tucker, who gave two thumbs up as a question. Danny nodded, tugging lightly on the ropes he gripped. Tucker nodded back, immediately going to try to pull Danny up.

Tucker wasn't struggling, per say, as he had in fact had to carry Danny around before, but Danny was around 120 pounds, and Tuck was expected to lift that with a _rope and pulley_. It wasn't exactly the easiest.

Lancer made up to the top at about the same time Nathan slipped and fell—with little injury, save for bruises—and quickly got the equipment ready and shoved it over, pushing the button as it fell. Maddie raced up, harnessed up, and impatiently waited for the teacher to start pulling. Nathan got back on the ladder, and after some struggle, got to the top, though by this time Danny was almost halfway up and Maddie was at least a few feet off the ground. Mikey got up there seconds after, despite all the small falls he had had over the period of time it took to get up there. Nathan, despite knowing it was a lost cause, got his equipment ready and the button pushed as Mikey huffed to catch his breath. Mikey practically collapsed onto the button as he watched the climbing equipment fall, not quite caring that he had a time limit on this.

Despite Mikey taking his _sweet ol' time with it_ , Valerie was ready to pulled far before Jack was, and surprisingly, Mikey was having a little success with getting her up, though Val definitely was stretching what 'little to no help from person B' meant.

If it weren't a little sad, it'd have been funny to watch Nathan try to pull Jack up as Jack shouted encouragement and Nathan considered what words he could say in front of his parents, his teachers, and national television without getting in trouble.

"Danny, would it kill you to keep out the extra fries?" Tucker said as soon as Danny was in semi-reasonable hearing distance.

"Yes it would," was Danny's deadpan reply. "I'm growing and need all the food I can get. Food is fuel Tuck."

Tucker stopped actively pulling to glare down at his friend. "Spoken like a true hero," he said sarcastically, purposely jostling the rope to give Danny a hard time. Danny wasn't really fazed. He flew around and got thrown into buildings, what's a little unstable rope climbing?

Finally, Tucker managed to pull Danny over the final lip of the pillar, much to the cheer of the audience, and they pushed down the button before high fiving. Tucker then collapsed good-naturedly onto the floor of the pillar, Danny sitting beside him.

Mr. Lancer almost had Maddie up on the platform. He wasn't sure how, he wasn't sure he cared, but he was getting there. Valerie was about one third of the way up, which was further than either her or Mikey expected, if they were to be honest with themselves. Nathan almost fell off when Jack suddenly jumped to try to help, and Nathan was nearly pulled off by the rope as it followed Jack's short decent.

The crowd was still a little ecstatic that any of the Competitors had made it to the top. "And that's three points each to Tucker Foley and Danny Fenton," Ann could be heard over the noise, but only just. Danny waved, slightly shy, at the people and Tucker gave half-hearted waves from his—in his opinion—comfortable position on the platform.

A few minutes passed, Tucker eventually sitting up with Danny and giving a few more, slightly more awake, waves and both boys gesturing excitingly to Sam and Jazz when they spotted the two. The crowd got excited again as Maddie was almost to the top and Valerie was, again, really surprised at being nearly-but-not-quite two thirds of the way up. With a final pull, Lancer pulled Maddie up to the top and they both pushed the button, Maddie waving as Lancer, in a move not dissimilar to Tucker from earlier, collapsed against the button podium.

Cheers were heard throughout the stadium, Ann's voice once again booming across the field. "Two points each to William Lancer and Madeline Fenton!"

Almost immediately, much to everyone's surprise, Valerie and Mikey hit their button. They didn't know _how_ Mikey was able to pull a full-weighted human up a rope, but neither questioned it. The crowd cheered again, Ann announced that each got a point, and the final buzzer for the hour went off. Danny winced at the loud sounds, squinting over to where Mikey and Valerie looked surprised at the feat they accomplished, before realizing that the event was now officially over.

Nathan didn't even act surprised, having just sat down and begun playing a handheld game roughly twenty minutes ago, Jack pulling out some needlepoint out of nowhere at around the same time.

The crowd cheered on as well as the other competitors, Ann letting them go on for a few minutes as the victors of the round eventually got enough energy to wave about and be absolute hams to the people and news stations. Eventually, though, Ann floated out to the center of the arena, high above everyone's head as usual. "Well, our winners of this mini event are Tucker Foley and Danny Fenton, second being William Lancer and Madeline Fenton, and finally Mikey Baker and Valerie Grey. Unfortunately, this means our last place goes to Nathan Lester and Jack Fenton. This means that Nathan Lester is our first elimatee of the game."

Nathan wasn't even fazed, shrugging as he continued on his handheld.

"With that," Ann said, "you all are free to enjoy the grounds as you please." Ann floated over to the rather apathetic Nathan. "Now, a quick word with you, and you'll be free." Nathan looked up and put away his game, shrugging as he stood.

"Wait," Mikey called from the next pillar over. "How do we get _down?_ "

If Ann had a mouth, and therefor the ability to smile, they would have. "Get creative."

And then they left.

Danny looked at Tucker, shrugged, and leapt off the pillar, his rope acting as a slight swing (as it really only gave about as much as the tower was tall). Valerie and Maddie both dove off after. Nathan attempted the ladder, only to fall and wind himself. Mikey swore he wouldn't do that before doing exactly that. Mr. Lancer carefully crept down the ladder, it still being slick but not as bad as before, and Tucker simply grabbed the rope Danny went down with and slipped down as fast as possible without giving himself rope burn. The four who weren't elimatees unharnessed themselves, leaving their equipment at the base of the structure. Nathan gave a short wave before walking towards where Ann and Tim waited to talk. Mikey walked off, not really friends with any of the others. Valerie hesitated to leave, but seeing as Danny was her ex, although a friendly ex, she decided to go meet her father outside the arena.

"…Well," Tucker said quietly. "Whose up for corndogs?"

The others looked at each other, shrugged, and went to go get Jazz and Sam (who would, in fact, have a tofu dog) from the entryway.

As Danny left, he couldn't help but drift behind and look over at the rest of the arena. He felt… unsettled. The boy couldn't place it though. He shook his head, decided it was probably just all the excitement of the day, shrugging it off as he went to join the others in their mission to slowly clog their arteries with terrible (terribly delicious) carnival food.

 _ **ROYAL GAMES**_

 **You know, I never expected to enter into google 'how much does Danny Fenton weigh' and I expected even less to get an** _ **actual answer**_ **. It could be just a fan speculation but it's the only thing I got so… 120 pounds. Huh. Also, if you're wondering, Tucker at the very least carried Danny into the hospital during the thing with ghost bugs and Spectra… Doctor's Disorders, I think. Though you could argue that Danny can make himself as light as he wants (since he can fly as a ghost and sorta hover for a second or two in human form), and if that's the case, then the ropes are ghost proof—IE, Danny can't help Tucker pull him up at all.**

 **Also, it should be noted that I don't even like corndogs. I do however absolutely love funnel cake.**

 **So, as usual, send in questions to the Question Tent (reviews) or ask the Bowtied Observant Tim using their inbox (pm me or specially marked reviews). Ann is more or less unavailable, but if you ask I'm sure I can gather them up to answer a question if need be. Pretty much all those details are in Chapter Two on the bottom AN.**

 **No one guessed what Tim's name came from, so I'm going to continue asking—where did I get Tim's name from? I'll take two answers, but one is slightly more correct than the other. If you get it right, I'll be sure to give a reward (extra points, a battle, an event, a character, a headcanon, etc etc, we'll discuss details).**

 **As always, you can enter any headcanons, fanon characters, fanon things, events you want, battles you want, anything you want, and I'll be sure to read and at least consider (if you win the Tim challenge, though, we'll actually discuss putting the requested thing in and how that'll effect everything).**

 **Thanks again to** paigemeable **because seriously guys she helps a ton.**

 **UNTIL NEXT TIME, FRIENDS!**


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